Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 432-8561, Japan.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2011 May;58(5):1147-55. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2052809. Epub 2010 Jun 14.
Muscular strength can be estimated by quantification of muscle area. For this purpose, we developed a flexible measuring system for muscle area using ultrasonography. This method is completely safe and is particularly suitable for elderly people because the subjects are not required to perform any muscular contraction during measurement. The ultrasound probe is installed on a mechanical arm, and continuously scans fragmental images along the body surface. A wide-area cross-sectional image is then constructed using the measured images. The link mechanism is very flexible, enabling the operator to measure images for any body posture and body site. Use of the spatial compounding method reduces speckle and artifact noise in the resultant cross-sectional images. The operator can observe individual muscles (extensor, flexor muscle, etc.) in detail. We conducted experiments to evaluate the performance of the system. In the experiments, the position of the ultrasound probe was calculated with high accuracy according to the link posture. In addition, a high degree of correlation was verified between MR images and those of the developed system. We observed a reduction in noise due to use of the spatial compounding method, and propose a new calibration method for correcting the measured muscle area, which were slightly deformed by the contact pressure of the ultrasound probe. Finally, we examined the relation between muscular area and muscular strength in young and middle-aged subjects. The results of these experiments confirm that the developed system can estimate muscular strength based on muscular area.
肌肉力量可以通过肌肉面积的量化来估计。为此，我们开发了一种使用超声的灵活的肌肉面积测量系统。这种方法是完全安全的，特别适合老年人，因为在测量过程中不需要受试者进行任何肌肉收缩。超声探头安装在机械臂上，并沿着体表连续扫描片段图像。然后使用测量的图像构建宽区域的横截面图像。链接机构非常灵活，使操作员能够测量任何身体姿势和身体部位的图像。使用空间复合方法可以减少所得横截面图像中的斑点和伪像噪声。操作员可以详细观察各个肌肉（伸肌、屈肌等）。我们进行了实验来评估系统的性能。在实验中，根据链接姿势，以高精度计算超声探头的位置。此外，还验证了 MR 图像和开发系统的图像之间具有高度相关性。我们观察到由于使用空间复合方法而导致噪声降低，并提出了一种新的校准方法，用于校正由于超声探头的接触压力而略微变形的测量肌肉面积。最后，我们检查了年轻和中年受试者的肌肉面积和肌肉力量之间的关系。这些实验的结果证实，开发的系统可以基于肌肉面积来估计肌肉力量。
